Caveman diet voted best way to lose weight (by readers of a report that found it least effective)

Forget Atkins and Dukan. According to dieters, the back-to-basics Caveman regime, which singer Tom Jones credits with helping him drop two-stone in five months, is the most effective way to lose weight.

Despite the fact that it ranked least effective in a list of diets compiled by nutritionists and dietitians, thousands of readers responded to say that for them, it delivered the best results.

The eating plan advocates a diet based on lean meat, raw vegetables, berries and nuts, while avoiding foods such as sugar and refined carbohydrates that would not have been available to paleolithic man.

Consumer vote: Despite the fact that the Caveman diet ranked least effective in a list of weight-loss plans compiled by nutritionists, thousands of people responded to say that for them, it delivered the best results

But the U.S. News and World Report read that the Caveman diet, which is often known as the Paleo diet would 'likely disappoint... and was the least effective for weight loss.'

In a poll beneath the review, however, revealed that 3,292 people said that the diet had worked for them, compared with just 85 who said that it didn't.

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By contrast, 1,939 rated the WeightWatchers plan, which came top in the report, with 819 admitting to no success with it.

The rest of the weight-loss regimes, which included the Jenny Craig diet, the raw food diet and Slim-Fast, received far few responses.

Two-thirds of the 1,365 readers who had tried the no-carbohydrate Atkins diet said that it had worked for them, but all of the others fared badly according to reader verdicts.

Negative: The U.S. News and World Report said the Caveman diet... would 'likely disappoint... and was the least effective for weight loss'

Poor review: Just 86 of the 667 people responding to the review of the Jenny Craig diet considered it effective

Just 86 of the 667 that reviewed the Jenny Craig diet considered it effective, and only 16 in 366 had praise for the Volumetrics diet, which the experts placed at number four in their list.

Even celebrity favourites, such as the Dash diet and the South Beach diet failed to find favour with consumers. And only around a fifth of readers rated the Zone diet, which is said to count Jennifer Aniston among its fans.

Today, advocates of the Paleo diet published a response to the U.S. News and World report.

Loren Cordain, professor of health and exercise at Colorado State University, explained how the regime had been proven to reduce blood pressure and insulin resistance in no less than five studies.

He wrote: 'Whoever was the writer of these reviews had not read the science behind the Paleo diet. I personally don't like evaluating something and have huge bits of evidence that weren't examined. That's bad science.

'There have now been five clinical trials showing that this diet is a powerful way to normalize health and well-being.'

But Ben Harder, general manager of Health and Science at U.S. News and World Report says that the studies cited by Professor Cordain are not on a large enough scale.

He told ABC News: 'For the Paleo diet, additional evidence is needed to show conclusively whether or not it is as effective as some people hypothesize.

'The most relevant studies have been small, as our published review of the Paleo diet indicates. We hope researchers will publish more - and larger - studies on the Paleo diet so that health experts, including our expert panel, have more evidence to consider in the future.'

Singer Tom Jones yesterday revealed how the Caveman diet had helped him shed a staggering 2 stone in just 5 months.

The 71-year-old also cut his heavy alcohol intake as part of his healthy new lifestyle.

He told Radio 2 host Chris Evans: 'I didn't think I was going to and I left the working out for a bit, thought I'd keep a check on it.

'But with the Christmas puddings and cakes, before I knew it I was 230lb (16.4 stone) which was 30lb more than I should be.

He explained how he consulted a dietician and the book, Syndrome X: The Complete Nutritional Program to Prevent and Reverse Insulin Resistance.

The popular U.S. diet guide recommends eating as much fresh food as possible including fish, chicken and vegetables, rather than processed carbohydrates such as pasta, pastries and cereals.

'It tells you to get back to what we used to eat when we were hunters and gatherers. Eat anything that's natural – meat, fish, veg,' he said.

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Caveman diet voted best way to lose weight (by readers of a report that found it least effective)